For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Karen Conner, news@epi.org 202-775-8810

Low number of voluntary quits underscores that young workers lack opportunities for advancement

The recent improvement in job openings was not enough to bring down the ratio of unemployed workers to job openings, which was 3.7-to-1 in February, unchanged from January, according to today’s Job-Seekers Ratio by EPI economist Heidi Shierholz.  Shierholz points out that although layoffs began to drop quickly during the recovery, hiring remains very depressed, currently 15.5 percent below its 2007 average. And given that hiring is so low, it is unsurprising that the number of voluntary quits is also currently very depressed, now 27.6 percent below its 2007 average.